Sports News-January 25, 2013

Carmelo Anthony scored 28 points to lead the Knicks to an 89-86 win over Boston. Anthony has now scored at least 20 points for 27 straight games. Rajon Rondo paced the Celtics with 23 points, ten rebounds and eleven assists.

Shabazz Muhammad scored 23 points to pace UCLA to an 84-73 road win over sixth ranked Arizona. The Bruins raced out to a 16-point lead in the first seven minutes in handing the Wildcats their second loss in 18 games. Arizona went 5-24 from three-point range.

Justin Simmons scored 26 points, including five three-pointers, to pace Nebraska-Omaha to a 95-90 victory over South Dakota last night. Simmons scored 16 points in the second half to allow the Mavericks to turn away comeback attempts by the Coyotes. Alex Welhouse and C.J. Carter each scored 17 points for Nebraska-Omaha. Welhouse hit four three-pointers and grabbed nine rebounds. Teammates John Karhoff and Caleb Steffensmeier each scored 14 points. UNO improves to 6-16 overall and 3-6 in the Summit while South Dakota falls to 8-13 overall and 4-5 in the conference.

Jordan Hooper scored 25 points to lead Nebraska to a 59-54 win over 25th ranked Michigan State last night. Hooper also had seven rebounds and two steals. Lindsey Moore had twelve points, six assists, and three steals for the Huskers. Nebraska was ahead 30-23 at halftime and never trailed after that. N-U improves to 14-6 overall and 4-3 in the Big Ten while the Spartans drop to 16-3 overall and 4-2 in the conference.

The Creighton softball team placed four players on the 2013 preseason all-conference team as the league's coaches picked the Bluejays to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference. Senior catcher Amy Baker earned the second All-MVC preseason selection of her career to go with a nod from 2011 during her sophomore campaign. Additionally, three juniors claimed their first preseason honors in designated player and pitcher Alexis Cantu, pitcher Becca Changstrom and outfielder Ellen Homan. All four of the Creighton honorees earned All-MVC accolades after last season. Defending MVC tournament champion Illinois State shared or claimed the top spot in the preseason poll the third straight season. Southern Illinois tied Illinois State atop the poll for the second time in three seasons. The Bluejays return eleven players from last season's team that compiled a 28-25-1 overall record and finished fifth in the MVC at 15-11. Creighton opens the 2013 campaign at the Kajikawa Classic hosted by Arizona State in Tempe, Feb. 7-9.

Ashley Wagner is on her way to becoming the first woman since Michelle Kwan to win back-to-back titles, winning the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships last night in Omaha. Wagner's clean and elegant "Red Violin" program earned her 67.57 points. That puts her more than two points ahead of Agnes Zawadzki going into Saturday's free skate. The Americans have been looking for their next big star since Kwan hung up her skates, and Wagner continues to show she is more than up to the task. Though other skaters had more difficult tricks, no one could match her presentation or fluidness. Earlier yesterday, Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir took a commanding lead in the pairs competition. With 62.27 points, they're nine points ahead going into Saturday's free skate.